Two leading vet service providers have partnered to assist veterinary professionals in their client communication.
Pet owners in the UK are renowned for the love of pets. Unlike many cultures around the world, Brits consider pets a loved member of the family. Therefore, it is surprising that new research has revealed that over 20 percent of UK pets could have treatment without their owners’ complete understanding of what is wrong or what treatment will entail.
The research, undertaken with 2,000 UK pet owners in August 2021 by leading vet technology providers VisioCare Services and WebPartner by Vetstream, found that 20 percent of all pet owners have agreed to treatments for conditions they did not understand. Unsurprisingly, 29 percent admitted that they were too upset to understand what the vet was saying to them, with 23 percent unable to recall even the name of the condition or treatment after leaving the consultation room.
With time scarce and an increasing need for efficient consultations, vets can inadvertently assume that the pet owner understands what they are saying, as a quarter of the pet owners surveyed had experienced. While trust in our vets is very high, 17 percent of those surveyed did admit that they were too embarrassed to tell their vet that they did not understand what was being said. This barrier in vet-to-client communication can reduce compliance, especially as one in five did not know how serious the condition or treatment was, and 84 percent said they did not have access to information about the condition, treatment or procedures following their consultation.
As a time-poor industry, could the advancement in technology be the answer for forward-thinking vet practices?
CEO of Webpartner at Vetstream, Mark Johnston, who jointly commissioned the survey, explains: “Technology is taking on new importance in veterinary practice, now more than ever. Not just to aid treatment, but it is also revolutionising the way we communicate with clients.
“Vetstream and VisioCare Services are at the forefront of a new wave of technologies and are excited to have partnered to provide resources that assist vets in consultation – providing videos and animations during consultations – that can be emailed to pet owners. Combine that with a condition, injury and treatment factsheet of the diagnosed problems from Webpartner, that are easily accessible by practices, suddenly clients have access to more information than ever before.
“The pet owners can use these to educate themselves further, and as the information provided is in layman’s terms that is easily digestible, the assets can be used to educate partners, children and anyone concerned for the pet.”
Webpartner, by Vetstream, is a digital resource designed to integrate with a practice website and provide users with an array of factsheets and information for your clients. Sharing peer-reviewed factsheets, produced by vets, vet nurses and marketing professionals at the click of a button provides a quick, efficient, eco-friendly service for customers at the practice.
VisioCare Services’ cloud-based consultation support service, Consult, provides visually stimulating, anatomically accurate animations and videos of hundreds of known conditions and treatments to educate clients in the consultation room. Accessible via any medium connected to the internet such as a desktop computer, laptop or tablet, the animations encourage understanding while also enhancing compliance with the pet owner.
Nicky Diver-Clarke from VisioCare services comments: “Our partnership is not just extremely efficient for the practice but really does dispel any myths, educates and informs in a variety of ways.
“While the animations and videos can be sent to clients for further review and show family and loved ones to explain what is wrong, the factsheets provide easy-to-understand information that can be read and digested at home.
“More importantly, as a reference on-hand and at home they will ensure clients follow treatment plans and to encourage a deeper understanding of the importance of complying with the recommendations provided to them.”
VisioCare Services and Webpartner from Vetstream have joined forces to provide a cost effective, discounted solution to any vet practice. The combined service discount reduces the cost of both services to less than a dinner for one a week. It provides practices with an automated, efficient service with impressive customer support from two dedicated professional teams led by veterinary professionals.
For more information about the services provided by the partnership, visit the VisioCare Services and Vetstream websites. Or alternatively, come and visit the VisioCare Services team at Stand P20 and London Vet Show.
